Alec Mutch, Author at Highland Woodturners Club (Scottish Charity SC053651)

07/06/202107/06/2021

Our next virtual meeting 10-06-21 Weed Pots.

Our next meeting is due to be held on Thursday 10th June 2021, it was to be organised by Peter Lawrence and the subject matter is making weed pots. This meeting has been turned into a virtual meeting due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, that does not mean you do not have to do anything, we would like you all to make a weed pot or 2 and then take some pictures of what you make and send them to me for publication on our club web site, do remember to give me some information on what you made and why, we would all like to see your efforts. The weed pots can be made from any wood, in any shape, laminated if you care to do it, in other words anything you like.

I have given you a couple of pictures of some weed pots I had made in the past, you do not need to copy these, they are there just as an example.

Here are a selection of small weed pots I made some time ago, they are all about 100mm high by 50mm in diameter, with a bunch of dried grasses to set them off.

Here I made a matching pair from 6 different woods, these too were about 100mm high by 50mm in diameter.

These Weed Pots were some of the entries to a meeting held on the 11th June 2020, as you can see some very different interpretations of what a weed pot can be.

Come on everyone, get busy and make a few weed pots, the more the merrier, you will not be limited to one picture, let me have lots of pictures.

You will have until Friday 11th June 2021 to get your entries to me at,

a.j.mutch4321@btinternet.com

Remember the clubhouse remains closed.

01/06/202101/06/2021

Report on our virtual meeting 28-05-2021 Inside-out-turning.

Our meeting on the 28th May 2021 was to be organised by myself, I chose to demonstrate the making of an Inside-out-turning, as this could not be done in our premises due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions I decided to do a time line on the making of an Inside-out-turning. I did ask for you all to contribute something to this meeting but only one lot of pictures have been received, they are on the subject of Inside-out-turning and they came from Dave Line, thank you Dave for taking the time to include your work.

23/05/202123/05/2021

Our next virtual meeting 27-05-2021 Inside-out-turning.

Our next meeting should be on the 27th May 2021, it was to be arranged by myself (Alec Mutch) but due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions this meeting has been made a virtual meeting. I was to be demonstrating the making of an Inside-out-turning, something I have demonstrated at the club before. However I am asking you all to have a go at making an Inside-out turning, I have given you a couple of pictures of Inside-out-turnings, the first picture was from a recent competition where John Ruickbie made some Inside-out chess pieces, the other is my usual Inside -out-turning using a miniature bottle of spirt incorporated into the turning.

These were John Ruickbie’s Inside-out-turnings of some chess pieces, they were entered into our spring competition and John took first prize with this entry.

This is one of my own Inside-out-turnings, it’s made from Maple with a miniature bottle of spirt trapped inside.

These are just some of the things that can be made using the Inside-out method, this is by no means all that can be made and I’m sure you will use your imagination to great effect and come up with something completely different. Do have a go and let everyone see what can be done, you will have until Friday 28th May 2021 to make and send me your pictures, some text with them would be appreciated.

Send your entry or entries to me at,

a.j.mutch4321@btinternet.com

I look forward to see what you all produce.

Do remember the clubhouse remains closed.

17/05/202117/05/2021

Report on our virtual meeting 13-05-2021 Platters.

Our meeting on Thursday 13th May 2021 was to be all about making wooden platters, the meeting was to be organised by myself (Alec Mutch) but due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions this meeting had to be changed to a virtual meeting. You were all invited to make a platter or two and send me the pictures of what you had made, the entries were thin on the ground with only 3 members putting forward their work, those were Dave Line, Nick Simpson, Geoff Potter and myself. Those are all regular contributors to the web site and we do appreciate their participation but we would really like to see lots more of you taking part in the online meetings.

12/05/202115/05/2021

Frank Albers, farewell to an old friend.

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that Frank Albers has died, I got the sad news from another club member Jim Kelman on Monday evening. I contacted Jeanie, Frank’s partner on Tuesday morning and she told me what had happened. Frank had been ill for some considerable time, he was taken into Orrin House, Muir of Ord just over a week ago and died there recently, Jeanie told me he died peacefully after a long illness. Frank’s funeral will be a very private affair with only a limited number in attendance, Frank had no belief in elaborate ceremonies and his wishes will be adhered too.

Frank was one of the founding members of the Highland Woodturners Club that was started in 2005, firstly working out of Charleston Academy in Inverness, until later in 2010 he was one of the members who secured the premises in Munlochy. Frank continued to frequent the club meetings in Munlochy until his health started to deteriorate, he was a very accomplished woodturner, a perfectionist without being too critical of others who were learning the art, always willing to pass on his knowledge.

09/05/202111/05/2021

Our next meeting 13-05-2021 Platters.

Our next meeting should be on Thursday 13th May 2021, this meeting was to be organised by myself on the subject of making wooden platters, however this meeting has been changed to a virtual meeting due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.

That does not mean you won’t have to do anything, I want you all to make at least one platter, photo it or them and send a copy or copies to me along with some information on the item or items you have made. There are no rules to follow, your platter can be any size in any wood, embellished or not it’s up to you.

Here are a few pictures of platters I have made in the past just to give you an idea of the type of thing you could make, you can use your imagination and come up with something completely different.

02/05/202102/05/2021

Report on our virtual Showtime meeting 29-04-2021.

Our Showtime meeting on the 29th April 2021 was to be organised by Geoff Potter and myself, but due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions this meeting had to be changed to a virtual meeting. Your were all asked to send me pictures of anything you had made recently, there was no actual criteria set down on what to make, we were just asking to see what you had been doing. There was a better response from our members for this meeting than had been the case over the last few months, and for this we are very pleased to see, I hope the increase in participation will continue.

26/04/202115/05/2021

Our next virtual meeting 29-04-2021 Showtime.

Our next meeting should be on Thursday 29th April 2021, it was to be our spring Showtime meeting, arranged by Geoff Potter and Alec Mutch, however this meeting has been changed into a virtual meeting due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. That does not mean you do not have to do anything, we would like you to send any pictures of your most recent work to me for publication on our web site. There are no stipulations on what you have to make and picture, just send me pictures of anything you have made or indeed in the process of making.

We normally had a very good response to the Showtime meetings in the clubhouse, just because we can’t use the clubhouse for this Showtime meeting does not mean we can’t have just as good a response for this Showtime meeting.

19/04/202119/04/2021

Report on our virtual meeting 15-04-2021 Natural Edged Turning.

Our meeting this week on Thursday the 15th April 2021 was all about Natural Edged Turnings, this meeting was being arranged by Geoff Potter. It had to be changed into a virtual meeting due to the Covid-19 restrictions. However you were all invited to make something along the lines of the criteria requested. The response was very poor, but we were very grateful for the pictures we received from the limited number who took part, those were David Ross, Dave Line, Nick Simpson, Geoff Potter and myself. As Geoff was handling the meeting he chose to make something using a timeline for you all to follow.

11/04/202115/05/2021

Our next virtual meeting 15-04-2021 Natural Edged Turnings.

Our next club meeting should be on the 15th April 2021 it was to be organised by Geoff Potter and Geoff’s theme for this meeting is Natural Edged Turnings. This meeting is now a virtual meeting due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, however you are all invited to make something along the lines that Geoff has indicated, you can make anything at all as long as it has some element of Natural Edge about it. Having made your item or items, take some pictures and send them to me for publication on our club web site, do remember to give me as much information on what you have made as possible,

We are looking forward to receiving a lot of your pictures, the response in the past has been quite poor so lets make amends and send me lots of your pictures, I’m sure the vast majority of our members would like to see what you have made.